Nuclear North Korea: South Korea asks China to step in

Thursday, June 22, 2017 - 01:18

South Korea's president says China should do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear program, and that he would call on President Xi Jinping to lift measures against South Korean companies taken in retaliation against Seoul's decision to host a U.S. anti-missile defense system. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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ROUGH CUT. NO REPORTER NARRATION.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday (June 22) China should do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear program and he would call on President Xi Jinping to 'lift all measures' against South Korean companies taken in retaliation against Seoul's decision to host a U.S. anti-missile defense system.
In an interview with Reuters ahead of his trip to Washington next week for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Moon said 'strong' sanctions should be imposed if North Korea tests an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or conducts a sixth nuclear test.
North Korea will acquire the technology to deploy a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of hitting the mainland United States "in the not too distant future," Moon said at an exclusive interview with Reuters at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.
He also stressed China's role in resolving North Korean nuclear problems.
His comments echoed that of Trump's who said in tweet earlier this week China's efforts to use its leverage with Pyongyang had failed.
Moon was elected in May pledging to take a more moderate approach to the North and engage the reclusive country in dialogue, in addition to pressure and sanctions to impede its defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Moon said he hopes to hold talks with Xi at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany next month, and will urge him to take steps to ease measures against South Korean companies, triggered by the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system development in the South.
Moon also said he has "high expectations" for the upcoming summit with Trump next week and said the priority the two leaders have placed on North Korea has raised the possibility that the nuclear issue will be resolved.

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